Prince and Gosling exchanged a scared glance. Until that moment it had not come home to either of them that it was possible for English affairs to be affected by this strange and deadly disease.
The remainder of the conversation was complicated and exceedingly technical.
2
When he came back into the counting-house, Gosling looked unnaturally thoughtful.
“Anything gorne wrong?” asked his crony, Flack.
“There’s nothing wrong with the ’ouse, if that’s what you mean,” replied Gosling mysteriously.
“What then?” asked Flack.
“It’s this ’ere new plague,” returned Gosling.
“Tchah! That’s all my eye,” said Flack. He was a narrow-chested, high-shouldered man of sixty, with a thin grey beard, and he had a consistently incredulous mind.